


Galaxies in the Year

by CastielFollowMe



Series: Single Dad Shiro Verse [20]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Back to School, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Galaxy backpacks, Gen, School Shopping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-17
Updated: 2017-10-17
Packaged: 2019-01-18 17:03:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12392328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CastielFollowMe/pseuds/CastielFollowMe
Summary: It's that time of year again. Back to school shopping for Keith and Shiro.





	Galaxies in the Year

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "Man, it's been so long since I've came here! Here's my new prompt: Shiro and Keith shopping for school supplies(since August is Back to School Month), it can happen anytime like for elementary, middle, high school or college. You decide or choose them all!"

 

_Four_

              “Alright honey, let’s see what we need to get.” Shiro grinned, shifting Keith in one arm. At the moment, he could only single-handedly carry Keith or do his day to day activities. His robotic prosthetic was currently updating and Shiro wouldn’t be allowed to use it until tomorrow. However, he and Keith were doing just fine with three hands total between both of them.

              Keith was perched on his dad’s arm, focused entirely on the pieces of papers in his small hands. He ignored the rest of the crowds around them despite all of the noise and sights happening.

              “Pencils,” Keith said quietly. Shiro used his hip and the stump of his other arm to maneuver the cart through several aisles of people Many of which cooed at Keith and Shiro or got out of the way once they saw Shiro’s arm.

              “Alright. I’m guessing we should get erasers and pens too?” Shiro asked once the two of them had stopped in front of the School Supply aisle.

              It was that time of year. The first of many for Shiro and Keith. School was starting up in just two weeks and this would be the first of many school years for Keith and Shiro. Keith was only just starting daycare at Altea, with Allura but it was still exciting for Shiro to be doing school shopping. Especially when it was just him and Keith.

              Kuro and Shiro’s parents had tried to tag along with them, after learning that Shiro’s prosthetic was out of commission, but Keith had managed to persuade them to leave the two of them alone with big blue eyes.

              “Yes,” Keith nodded before glancing down at the paper. “But only blue pens. No black.”

              “Oh, I’m sure we can get any colored pens,” Shiro chuckled, maneuvering Keith on the handle of the cart so that he could grab several supplies. “We could even get a rainbow of colored pens.”

              “No. Blue pens. It only says blue pens.” Keith said firmly. The little pout on his face made Shiro coo and rub his cheek against Keith’s. However, he grabbed a pack of  _blue_  pens and put them in the cart with the rest of the supplies. Keith beamed, satisfied and Shiro felt his heart melting all over again. “Okay. Check!” Keith scribbled a vague-looking checkmark next to the pens, pencils, and erasers on the list. “Hm, daddy what’s this?” Keith shoved the paper into his father’s face quickly. Shiro blinked, trying to crane his neck back so he could clearly see what Keith was pointing at. It took a bit of struggling but eventually, Shiro could see the paper and he smiled.

              “Oh, that says  _optional_. It means we don’t have to buy it and the school will supply it, but we can buy it if we want to.” Shiro explained softly. Eventually, Keith pulled the paper away from Shiro’s face and he frowned thoughtfully. Shiro quickly skimmed the rest of the line and his eyes widened.

               _Glue._

              For a second, Shiro’s mind was brought back to a dark memory of a time when Keith had been allowed to use glue for a Father’s day craft project with his family. Shiro had come home to a baby Keith  _covered_  in peeling glue. It was on his hands, on his cheeks, and in his hair. Shiro had been forced to cut off several chunks of Keith’s hair, sending Keith into a fit of tears for  _days._

               _Glue is not our friend._

              “I know for a fact that your daycare teacher will be providing you with glue so we don’t have to buy that!” Shiro said quickly, practically sprinting away from the glue in the aisle. Keith blinked somberly before waving at the disappearing glue. Feeling his heart twist at the saddened expression on Keith’s face, Shiro stopped the cart right in front of rows of backpacks.

              “Look! This is the best part of school shopping. You get to pick  _your_  very own backpack to wear!” Shiro cheered suddenly and Keith’s entire attention was now on the backpacks. His eyes lit up and a wide smile graced his face. Shiro chuckled, relieved that a crisis had been averted, and set Keith down on the ground when he felt Keith begin to wiggle in his arms. As soon as his light-up sneakers had hit the floor, Keith was running back and forth along the rows of backpacks.

              “Daddy! Daddy! Look, there’s so many!” Keith bounced excitedly, clapping his hands. Shiro chuckled, smiling warmly as Keith ran back and forth between serval different backpacks.

              “Is this his first time going to school?”

              Shiro turned around to see a woman with her own shopping cart behind him. Shiro could see two other kids walking down the aisle, both were probably two or so years older than Keith. He watched them warily as they made their way to the backpacks, where Keith was still looking at backpacks. Keith eyed the two kids warily who were trying to compare backpacks with him, but he wasn’t yelling or running away yet. Instead, he was clutching onto one particular backpack while the other two kids pointed out other backpacks.

              “Yeah. Well, it’s a daycare school because he’s only four but he’s still very excited.” Shiro smiled and the woman beamed.

              “And I bet you’re just as excited as he is. Look at that smile.” She pointed out the grin on Shiro’s face and Shiro couldn’t help but nod.

              “Yeah. I’m anxious to leave him alone. We’ve never really been apart this long.” Shiro admitted softly, watching as Keith grabbed a hold of another backpack that the older girl had given him.

              “It’s hard, especially with the oldest or your only child.” The woman said quietly. “It’s hard to see them growing up, and it feels like it’s going by so fast,” Shiro nodded at this and breathed a sigh of relief that he wasn’t the only parent feeling this. “However, I promise you it’s only going to get more and more exciting after this. Watching them grow up is one of the best feelings in the world, especially when you see the person they’ve become.”

              Shiro thought his face was going to split in half from smiling so much. He nodded at the woman, grateful for her kind words before Keith was sprinting back to him. Quickly, Shiro opened his arms and pulled Keith up into one arm, while holding onto his with the stump of his other arm. Keith’s eyes were sparkling with absolute joy and his cheeks were rosy from excitement.

              Suddenly, Keith shoved a backpack in Shiro’s face. “Look. Look. It’s perfect! It has stars and moons and planets!” Keith babbled excitedly as he proudly showed off the backpack. All the while, Shiro was smiling warmly at Keith, listening with rapt attention.

              Sure, he was excited to watch Keith grow up.

              Especially if there were going to be more moments like this.

x.V.x

               _Twenty-three_

              “I’m gonna go grab some supplies for school,” Keith said, eyes trained down on his phone. Shiro looked away from the Deli menu where he was deciding if fried chicken was considered a “cheat day” or not. He blinked as Keith walked away and sighed.

              Shopping for school supplies had been fun, for about seven years. However, once Keith had reached seventh grade, supply shopping had just become an ordinary shopping trip and by high school, Keith didn’t need or  _want_  Shiro shopping with him like they used to. Keith loved his father, and he always did, but even he had admitted that it was slightly embarrassing to be picking out backpacks like a little kid.

              So ever since then, Keith had done his shopping while Shiro had done other shopping and the two of them met in the middle. Shiro was a bit sad to see the tradition of school shopping had lost its magic. He knew that as Keith grew up some things would change.

              However, his baby was all grown up now. He was home from the military for good and now he was finally starting his very first year of  _college._  Where he was going to be living in the dorms and away from Shiro yet again. Thankfully the campus wasn’t too far and Keith could come home every weekend without hassle but still, Shiro had just gotten used to Keith being around all the time.

              The silence was hard.

              Shiro sighed, going through the motions and deciding that chicken was what he was in the mood for. As he was heading towards the checkout lines, Shiro saw Keith returning with a bag of school supplies around his arms. He wasn’t on his phone any longer and he waved upon seeing Shiro.

              “Got everything you need?” Shiro asked when they arrived near a check-out line.

              “Yeah. I’m not going to overload on supplies until I know what I definitely need.” Keith nodded, helping to load the groceries on the conveyor belt. Shiro smiled at his son. “Besides, I can always get you to do a supply run for me and drop them off at my door. I know you’ll look for  _any_  reason to visit.” Keith teased lightly, causing Shiro to snort.

              “Brat.” Shiro swatted at Keith, who playfully ducked away. “What about a backpack? You haven’t had one since high school and I’m pretty sure I got rid of it.”

              “I’ll get a plain black one or something cheap.” Keith shrugged, not upset at all.

              Shiro bit his lip, resisting the urge to sigh. “You don’t want ninja-turtles or stars?”

              “I’m not a kid anymore.” Keith laughed quietly. Shiro felt his heart twinge for a second before he was smiling again. _He’s not._  The two of them finished paying for everything before loading it all into Shiro’s car. Shiro’s mind wandered to something he had seen in the store and he bit his lip.

              “You finish loading. I forgot something, just wait in the car when you’re done!” Shiro suddenly called over his shoulder as he made his way back into the store. Keith rolled his eyes playfully, but nodded and continued to load up the car.

              It only took Shiro a few minutes to find what he was looking for and another minute of debating whether it would be a good idea to get it. However, he made up his mind and bought the item, hiding it in a bag in the back of his car. Keith asked what it was but Shiro kept his mouth shut and simply smiled.

              It was three weeks later when Keith was unloading the last box in his dorm. His roommate was a good guy, a family friend of Allura’s, and kinda cute. After Shiro had finally left, and Keith had been on his own once again for a few days, the longing for home built in Keith’s chest. He missed Shiro and home  _again._

              As Keith unloaded the last of his box, he came across a grocery bag at the bottom of the box. Frowning, Keith pulled the bag out as he tried to think of what it could be. He didn’t remember buying any other supplies. However, once Keith had pulled the item out of the bag, he couldn’t help but smile tearfully. Inside the bag, was a galaxy themed backpack, meant for adults. Keith kept the tears at bay but he ran his fingers along the stars stitched into the backpack when a note fell onto the floor.

              Picking it up, Keith felt a large smile gracing his lips and he laughed out loud.        

_No matter how old you think you are, you will always be my Star. Shoot for the moon and back and I know you’ll do great in school. Love you,_

_Dad_


End file.
